I MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010 State names its idol By Hannah Rishel FOR THE COLLEGIAN Though America has a few more weeks to wait until the next American Idol is named, Penn State determined its own during Blue-White weekend. Chelsey Pagana won Penn State Idol on Friday evening at the Blue- White Carnival in front of a packed crowd. The winners of the HUB head to-head challenges held at noon Monday through Thursday Pagana (junior-kinesiology), Shannon McCoy (freshman health and human development), Stephen Millett (junior-music) and Ali Zambanini (junior-biology) competed in pairs. Millet, singing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder. faced off against Zambanini, who performed 'Alone" by Heart. Pagana, who sang - Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey, went up against McCoy, who covered "Cowboy Casanova" by Carrie Underwood. Ultimately, Zambanini and Pagana moved on to the finals. Pagana sang the disco anthem "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, while Zambanini channeled "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks, singing her song "Battlefield." Instead of facing a panel of judges like they did in the HUB for Robots celebrate PSU, Earth Day at music festival By Kathleen Loughran COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER A red and white beach ball was tossed around as a small crowd waited in anticipation for the Flobots to perform at the inaugu ral Celebrate State music festival Friday. At about 7:15 p.m., the Flobots came on stage as one of its lead vocalists, Stephen "Brer Rabbit" Brackett, told listeners to prepare for a party. Amy Zeller, a festival organizer and a member of The Daily Collegian's Business Division, said about 400 people came to the Juelz Santana raps to support cancer research By Renee Guida COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Juelz Santana was in the build ing but rapper DJ Supernova said he wouldn't come to the stage until the audience earned it. DJ Supernova prompted a com petition Saturday night between students from Philadelphia and students from New York. asking each group to make noise. He said Santana wouldn't approach the Paul Robeson Cultural Center's Heritage Hall stage unless he could hear he was at Penn State. Students representing New York where Santana is from won the competition, prompting the rapper to take the stage and perform "I Wanna Rock" freestyle. Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. hosted Who loves ya, baby? \R'iS 1 \I ERI'XINNIF\ Christine Reckner/Collegian Penn State Idol winner, Chelsey Pagana sings "Don't Stop Believin' " at the Blue-White Carnival on Friday next to Beaver Stadium. the head-to-head challenges, the contestants had to rely on audi ence support to win. Onlookers overflowed from the bleachers to the grass surrounding the stage. Two graduate students study ing acoustics measured the deci bel levels of the crowd's cheers the same way. The hosts cau tioned the crowd that booing would count toward the decibel level as well as cheering. Linda Nguyen said she didn't agree with the way the contest was judged. "They should use a different method," Nguyen (senior-commu nication sciences and disorders) said. "Some people were pushing and shoving family members out of the way to get closer to the microphone." Both Pagana and Zambanini had strong fan bases in the crowd. which made the final result very close. Pagana beat Zambanini by only half a decibel. According to the hosts of Penn State Idol, the cheering was only day-long festival, and about 300 stayed for the concert, which cost more than $25,000. But Brer Rabbit said he was surprised by how many people showed up to see the show. "I was kind of surprised how many people were here because it's such a packed weekend," he said. - The energy' and vitality on this campus is apparent. It was a pleasure, and we'd love to come back.- "Handlebars," "Mayday" and "Stand Up" were among the songs the band performed. Flobots violist Mackenzie Roberts said she enjoyed Santana's performance. The free concert, featuring Santana and DJ Supernova from' Forensic Unit, was held to support St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the fraternity's national philanthropy. The pediatric treatment and research hospital accepts all patients. regardless of their fami ly's ability to pay, according to its website. Just before Juelz Santana appeared, Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. fraternity members approached the stage to directly bring aware ness to the purpose of the benefit concert. Fraternity vice-president and event coordinator Austin Miller said he wanted to promote aware ness for St. Jude's and provide entertainment at the same time about 10 decibels below the sound of a jet engine. `'l'm extremely excited [about winning]," Pagana said. "The unbelievable support from my family and friends has been awe some." Drew Kinek, who described Pagana as one of his best friends and his idol, was one of her main supporters in front of the stage. "[Penn State Idol] wasn't a big deal for her," Kinek (junior-adver tising-public relations) said. "She's a great girl." Along with the title of Penn State Idol and a trophy, Pagana was awarded a $3OO cash prize and free textbooks for the fall semester of 2010 from the Penn State Bookstore. But Pagana said her favorite prize, without a doubt, was the one free pizza per week for a year from Domino's Pizza. 'All of my friends have been say ing, 'We really want you to win because of the pizza,' she said. "So that's the thing I've been look ing forward to the most." performing for Penn State. "Everyone's been really friendly and nice," she said. "The show was really good. People have a lot of energv. It was really fun. - During the performance, Flobots thanked Celebrate State for hosting the event and wished everyone a happy Earth Day, even though Friday was the day after the holiday. Brer Rabbit also gave a shout-out to campus activists, dreamers and peacemakers. "You have the talent, the dreams and the abilities to fight for a better tomorrow" he said. James 'Donny 5 - Laurie, one of the band's lead singers, stressed Juelz Santana was a good way to do it. "He's a very versatile artist. I think he's one of the rare artists that can cater to both males and females," Miller (senior-journal ism) said. "It's a good diversity" Before the show, the HUB was packed with a line of students which went from Heritage Hall's doors all the way to the bottom of die center stairs to see the show. Joseph Ortiz (freshman engineering) said he came to the concert because he grew up around rap and because Santana is a popular artist. "We like the way he flows with his music," Ortiz said. mean, he's a big name." Ortiz said his favorite song right now is Lloyd Banks' "Beamer, Located on the corner of Benner Pike and Amberleigh Lane, across from Centre Peace! Visit pennstatefederal.com for more info! SOMA to put on final show By Kathleen Loughran COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER At 7 tonight, there will be no need for students to turn on their stereos Students Organizing the Multiple Arts (SOMA) is holding a free concert in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center's Heritage Hall. Tickets are free and will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. Students need to show student identification, as they will be given priority over non-students. Non-students must also show photo identifica tion to be admitted. After both Los Campesinos' and Cymbals Eat Guitars dropped out of the show last week. SOMA was left scrambling to find a headliner for its final concert of the year. The group managed to book two. Man Man and The Apples in Stereo will co-headline the show Despite the last minute change, SOMA President Danny Michelson said he thinks the concert is going to be the best show the group has put on thus far. "They both put on such a unique live show," Michelson (senior-film) said. This is going to be different than any other show that SOMA has put on before." It's not the first time Man Man has performed at PSU. Last May, the band played at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave. Charlee Redman said she went to see Man Mans per- the importance of working togeth er to achieve a common goal. "It's fun to be together, but it is also important to be together because it's only when people get together that things get done, and people stand up," Jonny 5 said. Michael Collins, a Penn State multimedia specialist, said the concert was "awesome" and his favorite song was - Rise Up." Aesthetically, it's just a great sounding song, but I actually feel like they have a lot of good mes sages in their lyrics," he said. - No matter who you are, you can iden tify. It's all about togetherness for me." Benz Or Bentley," which also fea tures Santana. Saadi Javadi (freshman-pre medicine) said before the show that it would be "poppin. - During the performance. Santana said he wanted everyone to have fun and frequently addressed the - independent ladies" in the room. At one point in the concert, Santana stopped everything in the middle of a song. "I don't think they ready" he said, referring to the audience. "Wait, let me look at my watch. I think they're ready - Cue "Clockwork," a song in which Juelz Santana spurted lyrics like, - Tick-Tock, around and around and around the clock." Tyler Sizemore/Collegian Juelz Santana raps Saturday to To e-mail reporter: rmgsl46@psu.edu support St. Jude's hospital. Stop by the Penn State Federal Annual Meeting & Open House! Wednesday, April 28th • spm - 7pm Business Meeting at bpm David Payne said his favorite song was "Mayday -I like the message behind it," Payne (sophomore-hotel, restau rant and institutional manage ment) said. "Stand up and do something, be proactive about life." Zeller said she was pleased with the outcome of the event. Celebrate State is planning to hold another festival next year It went really well," Zeller (senior-economics) said. "We had . a good crowd. I think the band was really into it." • Food THE DAILY COLLEGIAN formance there last year. I haven't listened to The Apples in Stereo much, but I saw Man Man last year when they came to State College, and it was one of the best performances I've seen," Redman (sophomore- English and French) said. SOMA member Marissa-Paige Smith said she is excited for the concert, especially to see Man Man perform because she likes the band's genre of music. I like the band Man Man a lot, and I hear they were really enthusiastic last year when they came." Smith (freshman-com munication. arts and sciences) said. SOMAS concert will give attendees the chance to dance around, which they were not able to do at the State Theatre, Michelson said. "Man Man is so interactive, and they go all out, so they're going to be really exciting to see live." he said. Overall, Michelson said he has gotten "amazing" feedback from the new lineup, even more so than the bands that were origi nally scheduled to perform. - People have been saying 'thank you' a lot, and I wasn't get ting the same feedback from the original show we planned," he said. In addition to the two headlin ers, two local bands will open: Zak Sobel Band and Kalob Griffin Band. To e-mail reporter: krlslo6@psu.edu To e-mail reporter: krl 5106@psu.edu • Prizes
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